Personal Hindrances to Fellowship

Q: What does the Bible say about fellowship with God?

The Bible teaches that fellowship with God requires walking in the light and being honest about our sins (1 John 1:5-7). 1 John 1:5-7 emphasizes that God is light and there is no darkness in Him. True fellowship with God is contingent upon our walking in the light and confessing our sins. If we claim to have fellowship with Him while walking in darkness, we deceive ourselves and do not practice the truth. It's essential to recognize our need for continual cleansing through the blood of Jesus, which maintains our fellowship with both God and one another.

Q: Why is confession important for Christians?

Confession is crucial because it restores and maintains our fellowship with God, allowing for ongoing spiritual growth (1 John 1:9). In 1 John 1:9, we learn that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This condition of confession is vital for maintaining fellowship with God, as unconfessed sin interrupts that communion and hinders spiritual growth. Acknowledging and naming our sins is not just about feeling guilty; it is about owning our failings and seeking to reconcile our relationship with God, which ultimately restores the joy of our salvation.

Q: How does sin affect a Christian's relationship with God?

Sin interrupts a Christian's fellowship with God, though it does not sever their relationship (1 John 1:6-7). As outlined in 1 John 1:6-7, while sin does not sever the relationship between a believer and God, it certainly impacts fellowship. A believer who continues in sin and fails to confess it will experience a darkening of their spiritual vision and a loss of joy in their relationship with God. However, the perseverance of grace means that Christians will not be condemned, but they may experience discipline, leading them back to a closer walk with God. The need for continuous confession highlights our dependence upon God's grace to keep our fellowship vibrant.

Q: What is the difference between positional and conditional forgiveness?

Positional forgiveness is our legal standing before God, while conditional forgiveness relates to our ongoing fellowship with Him (1 John 1:9). Positional forgiveness, as understood in reformed theology, is achieved through Christ's work on the cross and is a permanent state for believers; it does not change regardless of subsequent actions. Conditional forgiveness, on the other hand, pertains to the ongoing fellowship with God and is contingent upon the confession of sin (1 John 1:9). This distinction is crucial as it underscores that while believers are justified in Christ and maintain their relationship with God, they must actively engage in confession to restore and maintain fellowship with Him.

Q: What does 1 John say about the presence of sin in believers?

1 John asserts that believers still possess indwelling sin and must confess it to maintain fellowship with God (1 John 1:8-10). 1 John 1:8-10 addresses the reality of indwelling sin in the life of a believer. John warns against the self-deception of claiming to be without sin, affirming that denying our sinfulness undermines the truth. This highlights the ongoing struggle believers have with sin even after conversion, and it is a reminder that confession is necessary for purifying our hearts and minds. Recognizing and confessing our sin is essential to experiencing the fullness of joy in our relationship with God. The presence of indwelling sin does not condemn us but requires us to continually seek God's grace for maintaining fellowship.

personal hindrances to fellowship. I want to go a little further
in the last part of 1 John 1 and the first part of 1 John chapter
2. In this lesson today, I assure you that you will be probed
and probed and probed, hindrances, things that impede fellowship, hindrances, things that really
stop, put a stop to fellowship with God and with one another. hindrances, things in our lives that prevent
us from really having fellowship with God and with one another. You'll have to search your heart
to know exactly where you stand before this service is over. And I assure you that we all
need this kind of probing. Only two things left for you
and me that amount to anything in life is for us to look within ourselves,
our hearts, have a better understanding of who we are, what we are, and
what my responsibilities are. And the other direction is up. I don't see anything, that doesn't
mean that we do not continue to live, do the best we can. But I see no hope in human governments in anything that man has anything
to do with. It's getting worse by the moment,
worse by the day. You say that's easy for you to
say since you're 82 years of age or almost. Hindrances to fellowship. That
means inspection on our part. So let's begin. Would you like
to read one more time? And we'll go beyond this, beginning
next Lord's Day, if the Lord hasn't come to receive us unto
Himself in the meantime. So open your Bibles once again
to 1 John chapter 1. Let's begin with verse 5. And this is the message we have
heard from him and announced to you, that God is light and
in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and yet walk in the darkness, We lie and do not practice
the truth. But if we walk in the light as
he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses or continues to cleanse
us from all sin. If we say, that we have no sin,
we're deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
We make him a liar, and his word is not in us. My little children,
who's being addressed? You and me. All the children
of God. I'm writing these things to you
that you may not sin. May not sin. That's subjunctive
mood, the mood of possibility. He's not saying we won't, but
he's not telling us to do it. And if anyone sins, we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he
himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only,
but also for those of the whole world. You mean every individual
without exception? No. No. the whole world of believers.
2 Thessalonians 5, beginning with
verse 18 through 21. Hindrances to fellowship. Let's review two things for just
a few minutes. Conditional forgiveness. is essential to fellowship, positional. That's our standing, not our
state, our standing in Christ. So positional forgiveness is
essential to fellowship with God and His family. Conditional forgiveness And that's
what John is dealing with in 1 John. It's not positional,
but conditional. We're already Christians. So
conditional forgiveness is necessary to what? Maintain fellowship. I said maintain fellowship. The first possible mistake named
by John was that of a Christian claiming fellowship while walking
in darkness. That's why he says what he does
in verse 8. He gave another warning of the
possibility of Christians claiming to have no indwelling sin. There are religionists who believe
that and have been even since Christ. Look at verse eight. If we say that we have no sin, I'm reading slow for a reason,
we are deceiving ourselves. and the truth is not in us. I watched a program last night.
I don't usually listen that long, but I listened to the whole mess
because I wanted to really see what would happen next. I'm talking
about the Crystal Cathedral in Orange Grove, California. I saw something, witnessed something
that's unbelievable. Unbelievable rock. R-O-T-R-O-T. I won't even take the time to
tell you about it, but they talk about fellowship. They don't know what
fellowship is. You say, well, why are you so
smart that you think you know what fellowship is? Anybody can
criticize me all he wants to, but you better have biblical
grounds and you better make a Righteous judgment when you judge me and
I made a righteous judgment of that man I Don't think enough
of him to even call his name False prophet if they ever was
one he had a house full of people, you know, why I He interviewed
two people and he spent 45 of the 60 minutes of the hour listening
to these people. One of them was a champion swimmer,
a girl, young woman. She was Olympic winner. And that
lasted for 25 minutes. Then he had a black man. with
his jazz music, and he had to sing one of them. And they stood, gave a standing
ovation. Folks, if I'd been there and
preached what I'm going to preach to you this morning, they would
have taken me out and crucified me. They can't take it. One of our men told me recently,
he said, visiting his relatives. And the
young people are talking about, the young people have to have
entertainment or you can't get them to church today. He said,
that's why we don't have any. I'm not going to entertain you.
I'm not going to entertain anybody. I'm going to make you feel as
miserable as I possibly can with the word of God, unless you're
right with God. Gnostic teachers of the past,
in John's day for instance, claimed to have no sin. And some people today make the
same claim. They just make mistakes, they
don't sin, they just make mistakes. Now, holiness people used to
be bad about that, but now then, it's gotten so rotten, even morally,
they don't even make that claim. They believe it's possible for
Christians to live sinless lives. Persons who make such a claim are not only self-deceived, I
said self-deceived, but they also willfully ignore history
and the truth of scripture concerning the presence of indwelling sin
after one has been regenerated. Is that true or false? You know I'm going to do something
next Lord's Day if it's the Lord's will that I've never done in
my 60 years of preaching. I've already prepared for it. And the message today is preparing
for next Sunday. I'm going to give a 25-year history
of this assembly that will shock you, I hope not beyond repair. It'll be factual, folks. I don't
deal in anything but factual. I can't deal with the whole 49
years plus, beginning the 50th year this month, the 18th of
this month. See, I can remember it. That's
the beginning of what you see as a result of that Sunday. 50 years ago. Do you believe in calling names? I'm going to call names. I am going to call names. I'm going to read scripture to
you. You say, well, that was all right
then, but we shouldn't do that now. See, I believe in being,
I literally believe the Bible, I believe the Bible is literal.
It has a literal message for me. And it has a literal message
for the assembly. I would beg you to read this
week, if you have time, the greater portion of the book on spiritual
declining. You have it, Revelation chapters
2 and 3. That'll help you kind of prepare
for it next Sunday. But I've got the long list. I'll
name people and say how they hindered, how they hindered the
fellowship of this assembly. I'm set for it. Scripture does not teach that
man's sinful nature is eradicated when he is regenerated. Your old sinful nature is not
eradicated. Dianne is rejoicing now because
God has done something for her. But Dianne, let me tell you,
the battle is just beginning. It is just beginning. I know
from experience. But it's a wonderful battle.
I said it is a wonderful battle. It may not appear to the religionists
of the world that you're on the winning side. But if you are
following the truth of scripture, you're on the winning side. And I'm a living testimony to
that fact. The principle of sin in you and
in me is unregenerable. It is condemned, but never changed
nor eradicated during the Christian's physical life. The law of the spirit of life
governs the new life in Christ Jesus. I have the law of the
spirit of life, and it is much stronger, and thank God for it.
If it were not so, we would be hopeless and helpless. I'm covering a lot of territory,
and it's all biblical. Follow me, please. We'll have
the outline for you next Sunday. I didn't get it ready, or we
might have had it printed and brought it to you this morning,
but I didn't get it ready that quickly when I made up my mind
that this is the only way to go in dealing with this subject
that I am now studying with you. The law of sin in the believer
is not as great as the law of the spirit of life in Christ
Jesus. Aren't you thankful for that?
And you know it, you've already experienced it. God cannot condemn. Watch this statement. God cannot
condemn and love the elect. But He can chasten and love the
elect. And that is exactly what He does
to you and me. When we need chastening, He chastens. Why? Because He loves us. And
He loves us with an everlasting love. Eternal love. That's worth shouting about,
isn't it? You would think that that would
just grip people's hearts that claim to be Christians,
but that doesn't excite them as much as what that mob saw
and heard from those athletes before Bob Shuler, as they stood
before Bob Shuler last night, or whenever it was taped, whenever
it happened. Listen to this. Turn with me,
please, to Hebrews 12, 6. Having made the statement that
God cannot condemn and love the elect, He can't condemn us, but He can chasten and love us. Here it is. For those whom the
Lord loves, He disciplines. He disciplines. and he scourges
every son whom he receives. Turn to Revelation 3, 19 briefly,
quickly. Last book of the Bible, chapter
3, verse 19. And look at this statement. Those
whom I love. What does God do? I reprove and
discipline. I'm thankful for God's chastening.
I'm thankful. And there's not a one of us who
has not been chastened. If you've never been chastened,
then you've never come to know Christ. You may be a religionist,
but you've never come to know him. Children of God may be judged
and chastened, but never condemned. Turn to 1 Corinthians 11, 32.
1 Corinthians 11, verse 32. And I want to call attention
to something else while you're in that portion of scripture. I'll read the 32nd verse. But
when we are judged, Paul writing to the Corinthians, and he had
some real problems with the Corinthians. And he called them by name when
he used them as an illustration. But when we're judged, and that
is a present passive participle of krino. And the verb krino
in the Greek means to form an opinion as to what is right or
wrong. Then he says, we are disciplined. And that's a present passive,
present passive. In other words, you are submissive
to his discipline. Of Paiduo, which means to instruct,
admonish, or chastise. Now let me read it all. But when
we're judged, we are disciplined. We are disciplined by the Lord
in order that we may not be condemned, condemned along with the world. The world
is condemned. So if you associate with the
world and you love the world, the world's condemned, you can't. But I want you to see this within
the context. So I'll open my Bible to the
11th chapter. The Corinthians were not even
discerning the Lord's Supper correctly. What do you mean they were not
discerning the Lord's Supper correctly? Well, I'll just show
you what he's talking about. In the 11th chapter, and we will
be observing the Lord's Supper. Let's begin. Well, I hate to
read as much as... I'm going to have to read quite
a bit. Let's begin with the 10th verse. Therefore the woman ought
to have a symbol of authority. Well, no, let's drop down to
verse 17. But in giving this instruction,
I do not praise you, because you come together not for the
better, but for the worse. Did you know most people who
go to church, they don't go there really to be helped. They're
in such terrible shape. So notice what he says. You haven't
come for the better, but for the worse. Notice verse 18. For in the first
place, when you come together as a church or assembly, I hear
that divisions exist among you. Divisions among you. And in part, Paul said, I believe
it. I believe it. For there must
also be factions among you, factions among you. And what else? In order that
those who are approved may have become evident among you. Therefore,
when you meet together, it is not to eat the Lord's supper.
Now let that soak in for a moment, folks. Boy, I mean, this is right
down where we all live. Verse 21, for in your eating,
each one takes his own supper first, and one is hungry and
another is drunk. Now let that soak in. The Corinthian
Christians, Some of them drunk, what did
they get drunk on? The wine that they were using for the Lord's
Supper. They were certainly not there
for any good, were they? They brought their food. Now notice what he says. Verse 22, what? Do you not have houses in which
to eat and drink? Folks, the church is not a place
for F-double-O-D food, except the Word of God being our food. You say, well now, that's foolish. What did I see on that sign up
at First Baptist Church? This is for their summer program.
Worship, food, fun, and fellowship. They don't know what fellowship
is. All right, let's look at it, folks. See, I'm not worried
about you contradicting what I'm saying. What I'm saying is
the book. Let's read all of verse 32 again. What, do you not have houses
in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the assembly
of God, or church of God? And shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall
I praise you? In this I will not praise you. That's to the point, isn't it? That's to the point. Sin in the lives of Christians
hides the Savior's face in respect to fellowship. But it does not sever from His
grace. Although the principle of sin
in them is the cause of sins, it does not reign in them. Sin doesn't reign in the Christian.
Sin only reigns in the unregenerate. So sin reigns in the unregenerate. Romans 521, that's what you do
not want to forget, signifying that they are ruled and controlled. By what? By sin. Being controlled by sin means
the unsaved are the slaves of sin. And this refutes neutrality. You can't be neutral. There's
no such thing as neutrality in the life of an unregenerate person. On the other hand, Christians
do not habitually and customarily sin as they once did. I know that from 60 plus years
of experience. So there is no sinning without
the loss of fellowship with God and the joy of one's salvation. Do you remember King David, what
he said in Psalm 32 and Psalm 51, both of those Psalms? His heart was heavy. The weight
of God's judgment upon him was heavy. But it did not continue. He lost the joy of his salvation,
not salvation, but the joy of it. The most miserable person
in the world is a Christian who is ignorant of scripture doctrine,
biblical doctrine. And he doesn't understand fellowship.
And when he loses joy, he's miserable. miserable. The trite saying, a little knowledge
is a dangerous thing, also applies to the knowledge
of the scriptures. A little knowledge of the Bible
is dangerous. I don't know why it is, but Take
most church members today, some of them are truly Christians,
but they give you so much trouble, they learn a little bit and they
think they know everything. Think they know everything. Folks, I've learned some lessons
by experience through the years, and I'll share them with you
next Sunday. And I'm not worried about the consequences. I'm all
set for that. We need to face reality. I said reality. Some do not go as far as the
false teachers who twist the scriptures to their own destruction,
according to 2 Peter 3 and verse 16, but their lack of knowledge
leads them to draw false conclusions. Let me give you an illustration.
A few years ago, and I won't say how many years, and I may
not bring out this point, but this one comes to my mind while
I'm speaking to you. We had to discipline someone
in the church. This has been probably 15, 16,
17 years ago. And so we disciplined this person.
Well, when the young couple got home, the wife was, she kind
of wore the pants anyway. You know what I mean? I'm talking
about the long pants. She kind of ruled everything. So she got
her husband all stirred up about what I had done and the way I
did it. And so I received a phone call. See, I don't tell you everything
that goes on, but I'll tell you enough next Sunday that you won't
want to hear anymore for a long time. And so they wanted to come
over to see me. I said, come ahead. So they came
over, and as soon as they sat down, I saw that I was in for
trouble. Juanita will remember this very
well. And so the man started out. And he didn't get very far that
she began to talk, and she out-talked him. So I knew then where it
really came from to begin with. You know what I did? I lowered
the boom, folks. I was kind of surprised they
stayed, but they stayed in the church for a while. I said a little knowledge is
a dangerous thing. And when I got through, neither
one could answer it. But later on, I had trouble over something
else in the scriptures. And so, the man came to me that
time, and he asked me, he said, I think you're wrong in this.
I said, well, I've been wrong before, but you'll have to show
me where I'm wrong. So he said, yes, according to
the Greek, you're wrong here. I said, no, I'm not. So I just
simply buried him. I mean buried him with the Greek
word and the different explanations of the Greek word by great Greek
scholars. I said a little knowledge is
a dangerous thing. That's why a novice shouldn't
be a pastor. I became a pastor as a novice.
I didn't know any better. and the people that called me
didn't know any better. So that was, they didn't know
any better and I didn't know any better. But folks, don't ever think that
you have the last word unless you have really made a diligent
study of the subject. So to try saying a little knowledge
is a dangerous thing applies to the knowledge of the scriptures. Notice 1 John 1 again. The particle if in the English
to begin with. If we say that we have no sin,
now let me explain that in the original. This is a third class condition,
if, particle. If is a third class condition,
eon. Expressing the mood of possibility. So John didn't say, you will
never sin if a man say. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So persons who would be led astray
by a wound of biblical knowledge plus the misapplication of scripture would be self-deceived. The most fertile soil, watch
this, for deception is biblical ignorance. The most fertile soil
is your ignorance of the Bible. I have to say it like it is and
I'm giving you the book for it. We have to be realistic. I'm
one of the most realistic persons you'll ever talk to. Persons would have to be deceived
to say, we do not possess indwelling sin. We don't possess it. And I don't think anyone in this
assembly would say that. Then he says, if we confess our
sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Verse nine, therefore, the truth
of scripture would not be in persons who may say we have no
sin. Paul confessed indwelling sin
in his own life. And here's a man who was saved
from religion, the Jewish religion, and became an apostle and has
given to you and me 14 of the New Testament books. Quite a
man, I would say, a man of God. But listen to this in Romans
7, 17 and 20. Turn, if you will, please, to
that portion. 717. What did Paul say? He confessed
indwelling sin. So now, no longer am I the one
doing it, but sin which indwells me. Then drop down to verse 20. But I am doing the very thing
I do not wish. I am no longer the one doing
it, but sin which dwells in me. John proved that indwelling sin
produces the sins, plural, that must be confessed by the recipient
of grace in order to maintain fellowship with the Father and
with His people. Sinlessness in this life is impossible. I told Juanita to come into church
this morning. I said, I've learned a lesson over the last days. I've learned
just how, well, I'm not as patient as I
ought to be. My patience is not what I thought
it was. There are some things, folks,
we're not patient with. I'm not patient with sin. And I'll get into some of these
things. When it's sin you're dealing with, you don't be patient.
See, that's what this lady, she said, you're not patient enough
with these people who commit sin. I said, when they commit
a sin that is worthy of discipline, they need to be disciplined and
prove they have to prove themselves, period. So folks, I'm not patient. If you came to me and you said, I committed adultery or I got
drunk, Or I did this, or I did that. I'd just get up Sunday
morning and say, I bring a motion that this person be excluded
from the church. And when you prove yourself, we'll receive
it back. This business of saying, well,
what are you going to do? If you can be patient with sin,
folks, you don't have anything. You don't even know anything
about the scriptures. You cannot be patient with that
which is contrary to God and His Word, period. And a person,
when he willfully does something, then he must prove by his life
that he is sorry for it before you have any right to accept
him and embrace him. You know what that would do to
most churches, don't you? Well, let it go. That's been
my philosophy, but I've weakened a little bit along the way, but
I'm stronger now. Sinlessness in this life is impossible
because of indwelling sin. One must acknowledge that grace
operating in saints, three things I want to give you here. This
is biblical. Take notes on this. Please take notes. I want you
to check me out before next Sunday. One must acknowledge that grace
operating in saints, number one, renews their wills. Number one, renews their wills. Secondly, cleanses their affections,
their affections. And number three, purifies their
thoughts. Am I right or wrong? Common sense
would tell any Christian, you're 100% right, preacher. That's
what I'm gonna preach. That's what I'm gonna stand for. He must not forget that the law
of sin and the law of the spirit of life coexist in Christians. The law of sin exists in you
as a Christian and the law of the spirit of life also exists
in you. Now watch this. Anyone who denies
the coexistence of these two principles is self-deceived through
biblical ignorance. So I have not only 60 years of
study, I have 60 years of experience. Some think that attending church regularly, watch this now, giving
tithes, saying prayers, and doing their little daily Bible reading will keep them from having sin
in their lives, but it won't. It won't. It hasn't you either. Not a one of you, not a one of
you. An old trick of Satan is to persuade
a novice, that means a newly born person, to balance one thing
against another thing, thus excusing themselves. And you've done it,
and so has everyone who walks on shoe leather. Too often, Christians disguise
their vices. You don't know the practical
lesson? Take notes on this, please, and then examine yourself during
the week. Too often, Christians disguise their vices by giving
them false names, by giving them false names, such as recreation. Oh, I just do this. I just do
it for recreation. And recreation becomes a lifestyle. No time for God or anything else. Others call it diversion. You've
got to have some diversion. I'm not a good example of this,
but I'll give this as an illustration. I went 27 years without a vacation. Juanita and I didn't go anyplace. 27 years. I remember this was
back in the late 60s, I believe it was, or early 70s. Men came
to me and said, preacher, you haven't been anywhere or taken
any time off at all. And we had, I was preparing about
eight or nine messages a week on the radio and for the church.
And gave me a check, I remember the check, $1,500, said, take
a little trip to Colorado or somewhere and rest a while. Well,
so I put Juanita in the car and we started out in Colorado. And before the week was over,
I went back home. And I came in early. I can't
take a vacation away from what I love to do. Now, that doesn't mean I'm perfect
in it. But recreation, diversion, and entertainment. Some people
just think, well, we got to have a little entertainment. You've
got to entertain the kids today to get them to church. Folks,
I'm not going to entertain anybody to get them to church. When you
come to the Lord's house, you come for one purpose, and that's
to listen to an exposition of the scriptures and be taught
the Word of God. You know why people believe that
rot? They've been brainwashed by their denominational teaching.
You got to win them. You got to win them. And in order
to reach them, you got to know them and you got to get with
them. I have yet to baptize and see a person stay baptized in
the Holy Spirit that I won. I baptized too many of my converts. Am I being practical this morning? You say, well, that applies to
everybody else. No, it applies to all of us right here in this
building. And not a one of you can say,
I don't need it. So they dress these things up,
recreation, diversion, and entertainment as virtues and call them such
until they believe what they say. They actually believe it. They change the form of their
sin and think they are through with it. An infallible judgment is possible
in only a perfect person, and that perfect person is none other
than Jesus Christ. Here are two words, and this
forms the beginning of a tremendous sentence. Prejudice prejudges. Prejudice prejudges. a question in accordance with
its own bias. I'd like you to take that sentence
down and look at it carefully this week. Prejudice prejudges
a question in accordance with its own bias. Personal feelings blind us to
considerations that would otherwise be seen. Furthermore, attachment
to either a personal theory, watch this, a personal theory
or a denominational teaching. I was taught this by the Catholic
Church or the Baptist Church or the Methodist Church, et cetera,
and on and on and on. causes people to do violence
to the natural meaning of original words of scripture. I used to get so disgusted when
we were out at Belfort. Only about the first couple of
years were enjoyable years after we left Tabernacle and started
the Belfort Church. Only about two years. Started
growing so fast, new people coming in. and they were always coming
to me. I never have heard that priest
before. Where did you learn about that? The tragedy was they hadn't
been taught anything. You can go to the average Baptist
church a hundred years and not learn enough Bible to choke a
gnat. I'm talking about biblical doctrine. The Christian state before God
is not what it is before men. Deceived persons do not have
the proper concept of their own condition. If you're deceived,
you don't have the proper concept of your own condition. Motives
that seem to them to be right before God may, when viewed through
His prism, proved to be many-colored. Aims that men think are straight
proved to be crooked when tested by God's standard. Love is tainted
with selfishness. Did you hear that? Tainted with
selfishness. Faith is poisoned by unbelief. Listen to this verse in Ecclesiastes
7.20. Indeed, there is not a righteous
man on earth who continually does good and who never sins. What a statement. What a statement. Ecclesiastes 7.20. Confession
is the condition for the cleansing of progressive sanctification.
Positional cleansing, whether legal in justification. Now this is really doctrinal,
so let me go slow here for the benefit of some of you younger
Christians. If you've been in the church
a long time and heard me on all these subjects, then you can
put it together and follow. So let me go slow on it. I want it understood. Positional
cleansing. That's our position before God.
That's the result of regeneration, of which we had nothing to do
with. It's all of God. We were passive when he operated
on us and gave us grace. So, position of cleansing, where
the legal in justification, that's justification before God. You see, we're justified before
God. We're justified before our conscience and our consciousness,
and we're justified before others, those with whom we have to do.
So justification has to be studied before God. That's first. And then before our own consciousness,
you see, I was justified before God when Christ died and I wasn't
even in existence. Are you listening to me? Christ
died 2,000 years ago, so I was justified before God at that
point in time. But I was not justified before
my consciousness until what? The Lord gave me faith and I
believed the message and then I was justified before my consciousness. And then I'm justified before
others by the way I live and act. So positional cleansing, whether
legal in justification or actual in regeneration, has no condition. No condition. Oh, don't forget
that. Chosen sinners have nothing to
do with either. They did not exist when the first
was accomplished before God. and they were passive in the
second when they were regenerated. Just like Deanne can't tell you
the very moment that the transformation took place in her life, just
something happened. And that's my testimony and that's
the testimony of every one of you. I could go into another subject
very easily here, but I'll bypass that for the time being. On the
other hand, the cleansing of sanctification, cleansing of
sanctification, does not take place until sinning Christians
unveil and confess their sins. Now this is what disturbs me
when we observe the Lord's supper. You wonder, has everyone really
unveiled himself to God and confessed every sin before he participates
at the Lord's table? Are you right with God and are
you right with the people of this assembly? So look at verse 9 of 1 John
1, if we confess our sins as another third class condition
particle, subjunctive mood, the mood of possibility, If, and it literally mean if
we keep on confessing our sins, don't worry, you got plenty,
you have plenty of sins every day to confess. And so do I. So do I. Sometimes I feel like I'm just
confessing the same sin over and over and over, but I'm committing
it over and over. Confession must be definite,
definite and precise, definite and precise. A child of God must
not be content with a general survey of his sins. He must unmask
the sin and call it by name. A general confession will get
a saint no place when it comes to the cleansing of sanctification. Secret sins are not confessed
by making a general statement. You haven't said anything. If
you were to get up and say, oh, I've committed a lot of sins
over the last week, and sit down. You haven't said anything. Shouldn't
have even gotten up. You haven't said a thing. You remember all those testimony
meetings Baptists used to have? I didn't, I didn't attend but
just a very few of them. I got my, I mean I was filled
up to here. I think a lot of them just like
to brag. Some of them just wanted something to say. So in most cases it is the problem
of hidden and unconfessed sin. Did you know all the problems
in the church is hidden and unconfessed sins? Every problem in the church is
unconfessed and hidden sins. And a lot of people don't have
enough grace to admit it. Conceal sin has the power of
infecting, I said infecting, one's whole character and also
the character of the assembly. Let me give you a couple of illustrations.
David's concealment of his sin for a time exemplifies what I've
just talked about. Psalm 32 and Psalm 51. And the
fornicator Watch what I'm saying. The fornicator
of 1 Corinthians chapter five and the fornicator in the assembly
at Corinth is an example of the latter. And in sincere confession will
not result in conditional cleansing. Let me state it again. An insincere
confession will not result in conditional cleansing. For example, and this is a great example,
this actually happened. I heard about it years ago and
I made a note of it. A dying man was confessing his
sins to his pastor. in such terms as, quote, I am
chief of sinners, end of quote, and, quote, my past life is filled
with disobedience, end of quote. Now, I want you to think about
that. Get a picture of the scene. The pastor is standing beside
the bed in the hospital where this man was dying. And this
actually happened. I thought it was so good, I made
a note of it years ago and came across it recently in my notes. And so when the pastor was talking
to him, the man said, I'm chief of sinners, pastor. My past life
is filled with disobedience. The pastor didn't think he was
sincere. You say, well, he shouldn't have
thought that. Wait till I get through. You can read people
pretty well when you have dealt with them for 50 or 60 years.
The pastor broke into the so-called confession and said, quote, then
it was true what I heard about you, end of quote. That got his attention. Now watch
this. What did you hear about me? What did you hear? What did they
say? That was his reply. Watch this. The pastor told him that he had
not heard it from someone who was trying to malign his character,
but from himself. So I heard it from you. The pastor then told him that
he was grieved to learn that his confession was not sincere,
but were mere words. Was the pastor right in what
he did? You better believe it. So be careful what you say if
you're dying and you call me and you want to talk to me. I never forgot this. Years ago
I heard this, the pastor said, Confession is the confessor saying
the same thing that our advocate will say to the Father. So if you want the truth to go
to the Father through the intercessor that
you have with the Father, and if you didn't have Jesus Christ
as your intercessor, you could never reach the Father. Are you
following me? He's the mediator. So you better tell the truth
because Christ is going to tell the truth when He speaks to the
Father as your advocate. Now, what if you don't tell Christ
the truth? You'll be disciplined. You'll
be disciplined. But Christ is still going to
tell the truth to the Father and He's the advocate and it's
because of His advocacy. There's where our hope is, folks.
Isn't it wonderful? that we have someone who's going
to always tell the truth. And nothing but the truth has
the inner seeds for us. Why don't you hear a teaching
along this line today? They just leave people hanging. Just so you believe you got it
made the rest of your life. Easy believism. Confession is the confessor saying
the same thing that the advocate says to the father. There is
always harmony between what the sinning saint says and what Christ
pleads. Unconfessed sin interrupts fellowship. There is no spiritual growth
in a Christian as long as sin remains unconfessed. So I've watched church members.
You know that there's something wrong. They just keep sliding
further and further. Many times they're all the way
out. Remember this verse of scripture
in 1 John 2.19, they went out from us. We need to look at that closely.
So turn to 1 John 2.19. John had just been talking about
the false antichrists, plural. And then he carries it a little
further. And this follows, loving not the world, neither the things
are in the world, and so forth. Let's begin with verse 18. Children,
that's Christians, isn't it? Yes, you're exactly right. It
is the last hour. And just as you heard, that Antichrist
is coming, that's singular, Antichrist is coming. Even now many antichrists,
the antichrist hasn't come yet, but there have been many antichrists
and there are many antichrists now, have arisen from which we
know that it is the last hour. Now notice verse 19, they went
out from us, but they were not really of us. I'm not saying anything for a
reason. I want it to soak in. They would have remained with
us. If they had been of us, they
would have remained with us. But they went out in order that
it might be shown that they all are not of us. Pretty pointed, isn't it? You
can't interpret it any other way, folks. When I see people more concerned
about their physical life and their so-called future, and I've
heard some say, oh, we're doing our best in our assembly to teach
the truth, and then they get up and walk off and leave. That's pointed, isn't it? Oh, Brother Bess just thinks
he knows everything. In our last dismissal of some folks, you ought to have heard some
of them and what they told me. You just think you know everything
and think you're the only preacher. I can't keep people from saying
whatever they want to say. I don't think I'm the only preacher. But I do know this, there are
not many preaching the truth today, I do know that. Although the unconfessed Christian
goes through the forms of fellowship, prayer, service, his fellowship
is interrupted. His prayer is, well, let's go
back. Let's go back a moment. This
is important. I want you to get this. Take
some notes on this. I'll tell you when to take notes.
Although the unconfessing Christian goes through the various forms
of fellowship, number one, prayer, number two, and service, number
three, However, watch this, fellowship is interrupted. I said fellowship
is interrupted. Prayer is unheard. And there's
scripture for all that I'm saying, folks. And what else? Service is unfruitful. Service
is unfruitful. Can you think of anything worse
in the life of a Christian? than for his fellowship to be
interrupted in his prayer unheard and his works are unfruitful? Walking in darkness suspends
fellowship. That's why he said, if we say
that we have fellowship with him and yet walk in darkness,
we lie and do not practice the truth. So hidden sin makes prayer
unanswerable. Hidden sin makes prayer unanswerable. I'll give you some scriptures
in a moment. Turn to Psalm 66 verse 18. Psalm 66 verse 18. And notice what the Psalmist
a man of God, notice what he says, if I regard wickedness
in my heart, the Lord will not hear. John 9 31 is another good verse. God hears not sinners, but if
a person be a worshiper of God and is doing his will, It is that person the Lord hears.
That's John 9 31. I give you three things in conclusion. Three things. Saints must confess their sins. There'll be no confession until
sins are acknowledged and uncovered. Listen to the psalmist in Psalm
51, 3 and 4. Just take the verse down. I'll
read it. For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me. Against thee the only, the only
I have sinned. Do you realize that every sin
you commit is against God? Then he says, so that thou art
justified when thou dost speak, and blamest when thou dost judge. David did not blame heredity
for his sinful condition. He did not blame society. He did not blame instinct. He
blamed himself. Number two, sinning Christians
must be forgiven of their sins, must be. Their forgiveness is
conditioned on confession. Unconfessed sins will suspend
fellowship with God, but relationship with Him remains unaffected. Loss of reward, not loss of life. is the concern of believers.
I remember some 52 or 53 years ago, I was preaching on a Christian
can lose his rewards but not his salvation. And I had a man
who got so angry in the congregation that after the service, he was
ready to go to Fifth City. I was in Big Spring, Texas at
the time, just before we came to Houston. He said, that's Harrison
that you're preaching. I read him once again, 2 John
verses 8 through 11, and verse 8 is the text. I said, there
it is, read it. He read it, but you see, his
prejudice, he prejudged, and he was so prejudiced, he couldn't
see the truth. The devil blinded him. Thirdly, Christians must be cleansed
from their sins. So cleansing from the sin of
walking in darkness is by walking in the light. Very simple, isn't it? This cleansing
is explained in Ephesians 5, 26, when Paul said to the Ephesians
that he might sanctify the assembly having cleansed her by the washing
of water with the word. So the two verbs, forgive and
cleanse, in 1 John 1, 9, are arius, active, subjunctive. The arius states the fact of
the action without regard to its duration. This means the
verbs are implemented definitely and decisively at a specific
point in time. The necessity for any subsequent
cleansing will emerge in 1 John 1 10 through chapter 2 verse
2. So the voice represents the subject
of the verbs acting. The subjunctive mood expresses
probability based on the contingency of confession. I have several
more pages to outline, but that's enough for today.

Personal Hindrances to Fellowship

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about fellowship with God?

Why is confession important for Christians?

How does sin affect a Christian's relationship with God?

What is the difference between positional and conditional forgiveness?

What does 1 John say about the presence of sin in believers?

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Personal Hindrances to Fellowship

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about fellowship with God?

Why is confession important for Christians?

How does sin affect a Christian's relationship with God?

What is the difference between positional and conditional forgiveness?

What does 1 John say about the presence of sin in believers?

Sermon Transcript

About W.E. Best

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